


Sacrifice

by witchofpeachan



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Virgin Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-19
Updated: 2013-07-09
Packaged: 2017-12-15 12:26:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/849551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchofpeachan/pseuds/witchofpeachan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The pack knew Stiles was in danger either way. They could try and protect him from the alpha pack; they could try and protect him from being a human sacrifice. They couldn't protect him from both.</p><p>It started with a phone call.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Tags will be added as the story goes on to avoid future spoilers.

The phone rang. It rang a few more times than he would have liked before finally, someone picked up.

“Good, god, finally.” His heart raced.

“ _Stiles, are you okay?_ ” He could hear the panic rising in his best friend’s voice. Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Right now, yeah, I’m physically fine. I’m working on being mentally fine seeing as though I could be a target any second of a bloody, three-way death.” Scott whined on the other end. He did not seem to find the humor in his friend’s death. Stiles did not either, but it was what kept him from panicking. “Anyway, Scott, hear this. It took me longer than I would have liked to find but –“ He was cut off by a sudden crash from the kitchen.

Scott paused too; everything was quiet for a moment, “ _What was that?”_ Stiles could hear him on the move already, “ _Stiles, what was that_?” He swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly made his way to the door.

“I dunno, I’m gonna check it out, though.” Stile grabbed his lacrosse stick. The sound of rushing wind on Scott’s end of the line told him at least he was coming to help. The background noise was too much; he could only hear Scott’s howling protests of “ _I don’t know!_ ” as he tip toed down the hallway.

 _That makes two of us.._ Stiles whined to himself as he rounded to the kitchen, stick in both hands. He was greeted by the sight of his backdoor blown off its hinges and all the windows busted inside. “Shit. _Shit. Scott!_ ” He shouted as he made his way to the front door. “Oh god I’m gonna die..”

“ _Stiles get out of the house!_ ” He heard Derek shout at the phone. He did not have to be told twice.  Stiles was out of the front door by the time he heard the dining room table flip over into the opposite wall.

“Jesus Christ!” He panted as he threw the Jeep door open and started it. He did not bother to look behind him as he pulled onto the street and sped away.

“ _Where are you going? We’ll meet you somewhere! … Stiles answer me!”_ Scott begged on the other line.

He kept on looking in his rearview mirror and stayed on back roads. “Uhm, I just passed Pine heading to Birch!” He bit his lip and broke all the speeding laws at once. Every light that turned red, he ran; no one was on the road at this time of night to see. “Where are you guys?” His voice was tight with panic.

“ _In the park, head towards Allison’s.”_ He nodded, and took a sharp right on the next turn. Allison’s was not too far from where he was.

All too suddenly, the Jeep’s engine seized. He was at a loss for words as his heart beat raced. “ _Shit._ ” He stumbled and got out of the car. Now he was regretting leaving his lacrosse stick at home. “ _Fuck,_ Scott the Jeep just died…”

He was met with silence for a moment, “ _Where_?” It was probably more panicked than he meant to sound, to keep Stiles calm enough. “ _We’re coming to get you Stiles, just hold on_.” Stiles attempted a laugh.

“In what, Derek’s mom van?” He started to run, keeping his phone by his ear. “I’m heading for Allison’s now, on foot. I’m on that really big road…” Shit he could not remember the name of it; he could hear his blood pound in his ears as he ran, glancing at the dark trees. _Shit,_ something was here with him.

Scott did not seem to find that amusing, “ _Just keep going and we’ll catch up. Whatever you do, don’t stop!”_ It was Derek this time; he could hear Isaac in the background trying to give directions for a shortcut.

“I never stop moving, what are you talking abo—Ah!” His phone flew out of his grasp a few feet ahead of him as he tripped, landing hard on the ground.

“ _Stiles!_ ” It was more than Scott or Derek this time that he heard. Was Allison with them? He crawled up for his phone and froze on his knees.

“Scott?”

“ _Stiles?”_

“Don’t let my dad know anything, okay? Tell him if he needs to know but _not_ because of this.”

“ _Stiles, no..”_

“Take care of him, too. Or get your mom to? You know how much she likes cooking.”

“ _Stiles, we’re almost there –.. Stiles!”_

“Bye, Scott.”

Everything went black.

“ _STILES!”_


	2. All Too Suddenly, He's Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Bye Scott.”  
> “STILES!” Derek almost swerved off the road as all voices hunched in the Toyota shouted, diving for the phone in Scott’s hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editted after S3E04: This story is based after the events following S3E03.

“ _Bye Scott.”_

“STILES!” Derek almost swerved off the road as all voices hunched in the Toyota shouted, diving for the phone in Scott’s hands.

As soon as the line went dead on Stiles’ end, Scott picked up another call coming in; it was Lydia.

She was screaming. “ _What happened?_ ” She had shouted over the phone at them. Before he had time to answer, Allison, pale as a sheet of paper, gently took the phone from Scott’s hands and spoke in a hushed voice to calm her down.

Derek continued to drive on. From where Scott had been sitting in the back seat he could not see the older man’s expression. Isaac kept shooting his alpha worried looks. The Toyota was packed, Cora and Boyd in the backseat, Scott and Allison in the middle, while Derek drove and Isaac sat curled up in the passenger’s side.

Everyone was silent while they drove, aside from Allison as she murmured “ _I don’t know_ ” to Lydia, who was almost hysteric on the other line. From what the rest of the car could hear and get out of Lydia’s frantic sobs, she had woken up screaming and in a pile of her blankets on the floor. She said she could hear Stiles’ scream with her as she woke up.

Lydia hung up as they pulled onto the main route around Beacon Hills and Allison choked on a gasp beside Scott, reaching out to grab his arm. Down the road, with the lights still on, was the Jeep.

“Shit.” Derek pulled the car over behind it; Scott was out before he unlocked the car for the rest of them.

“Stiles?” He called and ran to the front of his friend’s car, as if in the hopes that the other teen would be sitting in the front seat. Judging by the smell though, he was far too late. “Sti—Oh.” He found himself cut short, eyes widening as he covered his sensitive nose from the smell.

“Stiles isn’t here, Scott.” Everyone was slowly stepping up towards the jeep; Allison looked horrified, she covered her mouth with a hand to stifle a gasp as she gripped the front of her jacket. Slowly, Scott turned his attention from the front seat to Derek, standing a few meters away. His shadow cast over the street, projected by the flickering headlights.

 “They couldn’t have gotten far!”

“He’s everywhere.” Allison turned to Isaac, approaching her from behind. “I just ran the perimeter. His scent suddenly stops about fifty yards into the woods.” He lifted a finger in the direction he came from, eyes downcast.

“Same over here, too.” Cora chimed as she put herself next to Boyd. He made a circling motion with his hand.

“It’s like it runs in a circle around this area. His scent just disappears after that.”

All six of them for quiet for a long time, just standing in the vacant road; no noise penetrated that area. No wildlife uttered a peep as they felt their stomachs drop in unison.

_Stiles was gone._

Derek was the first to move, taking a few steps towards Scott with his arm outstretched and a hand balled into a fist. The young beta gave him a look with a ‘brow raised and eyes narrowing. Silently, Derek insisted with a flash of red in his eyes and a slight incline of his head that Scott take whatever he had. With a quite look at Allison as she looped her fingers in his, he lifted his hand. The alpha dropped what remained of Stiles’ phone in his hand.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to him, “His computer.” He tried slowly before looking up at everyone else. “Stiles had something on his computer he found before he left.” Allison squeezed his hand gently behind him; he heard her heart skip a beat.

With a tilt of his head, Derek led the way back to the SUV at a jog. They all piled in fast messily slipping into seats before Derek pulled away from the curb before Scott shut the door behind him.

 

 

Derek pulled into the Stilinskis driveway, stopping just short of the stoop. The group jumped from the car, not bothering to even shut the doors behind them as they crowded the doorway. Scott stepped into the house first and stopped. “… Shit.” Boyd loomed behind him and pushed him farther in so the rest of them could get through.

Glass littered the floor where it looked like someone shot through the windows, curtains were ripped apart and bookshelves tipped over. The dining room table was _not_ where it should have been, half hanging out the window to the side yard; the counter top was completely snapped in half.  The contents of the refrigerator looked like it was thrown all over the house. Milk splattered the carpet in the living room along their path to Stiles’ room and up the stairs.

 Photos that had once been hanging on walls had crashed to the floor and rolled down the steps; some frames simply cracked in half, others shattered and littered the floor with broken pieces.

“At least we’re all wearing shoes?” They all stopped to turn to Isaac, who already looked apologetic in saying that. Scott shook his head and stopped in front of a door hanging pathetically off its hinges, a large hole through the middle of it.

“This looks like the pack of alphas came through here. Are we sure it wasn’t them?” Derek raised a ‘brow before he turned to Scott in question. Scott only shook his head.

“The alpha pack would have ripped a lot more things apart, wouldn’t they? And why would they be interested in Stiles?”

“To get to us? A human associating with werewolves will get other packs to talk. If there’s a weak spot here, it’s the association Stiles has with you.”

“You’re acting like I’m a part of your pack and I’m not, Derek!”

“ _Ladies_!” Allison cut in before Derek said anything. She looked about to hit something already, dark circles were under her eyes and her mouth was set into a thin line. “You can argue pack later. Later!” She gave a glare at Derek before turning towards Stiles’ door. “We have a situation right now.” Swallowing she glanced at the three other betas that kept silent behind Derek before slowly pushing the door open.

Inside, the room was completely flipped around. Stiles’ bed was flipped on its side, mattress sliced open like a werewolf had done that. Scott shot Derek a look which he ignored, hovering by a drawing on the wall. It looked like a simple scribble and was slashed with a deep cut in the dry wall, rendering it unrecognizable.

As they all filled the room, they realized those drawings were everywhere, etched into the wood of his wall then cut in half. Anywhere there was a scribble; there was a deep gash in the wall or floor. On the ceiling, a circle was carved, pieces of wood peeked out from the attic and insulation stuck out in places.

His window was left mostly intact aside from a clean cut circle from the middle of it, etched out symmetrically and enough to fit an arm through and to unlock the window from the inside. A chilled breeze swam around the six as they crowded the room.

“Where’s the computer?” They glanced at Cora with a jump, the thick, tense air muted their ears for long enough, and Cora snapped them out of a daze all at once.

“Right.” Scott took a deep, concentrated breath before peering around the room for it. They all shuffled around a bit, trying to lift pieces of furniture that had shattered and move them out of the way. After a few minutes, Boyd spoke up.

“Found it.” It was quiet and uncertain, though, and they all looked up with pieces of mattress or bureau in their hands. Boyd held up the monitor of Stiles’ laptop.

Isaac pulled his hand out of one of Stiles’ clothes drawers, “I think I found the rest.” He eased his hand from amidst the undergarments and socks, pulling out the hard drive of the computer.

“Now what?” Derek sighed heavily after a moment, “If we can even fix that, who will get that working again?” He gestured between the two pieces on the opposite sides of the room before sending a glare over to Scott.

Allison turned to Scott as he tried not to look too bewildered at the older werewolf; he turned to look at her and she shrugged a shoulder. “I think I know who could help us with that.”

A snort came from the other side of the room and they turned to look at the alpha. “One of your dad’s hunter contacts?” Isaac spoke up before Allison and Scott could.

“No, actually; I know who she means.” He said quietly, looking right at Derek before quickly looking towards Scott. “But right now we’re in the middle of a crime scene, and the Sheriff’s son is missing.”

The realization dawned on them all with Isaac’s words. The pack, Scott and Allison quickly bustled around the room, trying to make it look like they had not messed anything.

“We need to explain why we’re here.” Allison spoke up as she started to wipe Boyd’s and Isaac’s prints from the computer. She doubted that it would be taken in for evidence, but getting rid of any traces they left would make it easier for them to swipe later. Scott looked up at her, and then glanced at Derek, Cora, Isaac, and Boyd.

“You can’t be here.” He pointed when Allison nodded; he was sort of glad none of them looked offended. “The Sheriff knows we’re friends with her, so it would make sense if Stiles ask us to come over. He doesn’t really know you guys,” A gesture towards Boyd and Cora, “And you two got arrested by his dad.” Isaac and Derek got their own finger.

“So, what you walked here?” Derek’s eyebrows rose shot up.

“No. My mom dropped us off.” Scott suggested, “She didn’t want us riding this late at night.”

 

 

It took fifteen minutes to convince his mother to say just that if they were questioned by police, “ _Stiles called you over to hang out late. The downstairs lights were off, so I couldn’t tell what it looked like before I pulled away?”_ She had questioned, not so sure on the whole idea.

Allison was on the phone with the police, glancing over at Scott every once in a while from the hallway. The pack stayed quiet until each ended their calls. “So now what?” Boyd gave Scott a tilt of his head. Scott nodded towards the door.

“We all get out and act like we did not just mess with a crime scene?” It was said more as an obvious question. When no one moved, he rolled his eyes and looked at the alpha in the room. When Derek noticed Scott’s look he turned to his betas and ushered them out the door silently and down the hallway. Allison followed Scott after a few moments’ hesitation, leaving the light on how they found it.

With hesitant and quiet goodbyes, Derek’s pack pulled out of the driveway and left. Allison was sitting on the concrete stoop when Scott turned towards her. Slowly he sat next to her, about a foot away.

For a while they said nothing to one another; Scott kept all his concentration on keeping his temper in check, to keep his eyes from flashing dangerously at anything that moved in the distance.

He tried to keep his mind on anything else – on the paper he had not finished that was due in two days. He’d skipped lacrosse practice today because Derek called, telling him Peter found a lead on the alpha pack’s new hide out. It was a longshot, but worth it. He did not know what, but they ended up cornering one of the pack, Ennis (he’d come to know a few days prior from the alpha), and overpowering him with the whole pack and Scott.

The alpha escaped, practically with his tail between his legs when he got the call.

“Scott?” His eyes snapped open, flashing yellow as he looked to his right. Allison’s eyes were wide, but not with fear. He did not smell fear on her, either. She was worried; he could see her eyes brimmed with tears in the lights from the street. Slowly, her fingers curled around his wrist, then slid between his clenched hands. “Scott?” She repeated, searching his eyes.

He blinked and shook his eyes, turning his head away from her, “I heard you the first time.” He mumbled into the sleeve of his jacket, wiping his eyes.

Their hands tightened around each other. He did not know how long after, but suddenly Allison was against his side, head hanging low so her hair was covering most of her face. Silent sobs racked through her, her shoulders shaking. Scott watched her for a minute before uncurling his hand from around hers and wrapping his arm over her shoulder instead, pulling her closer.

He took a deep breath, shaking as he did so.  “ _Shit._ ” He hissed, wiping away tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Allison turned into him, wrapping herself around him with a choked whimpering sob. He gripped around her tight and buried his face in her hair, hiding his wet face from the night.

 _His best friend was gone, and it was his fault_.

 

 

Police found Stiles Stilinski’s jeep in the morning. It was parked on the side of the road with the driver’s side door ripped off, like something ran into it at full force. The metal around the door peeled up and away from car; inside sat a body.

A young woman in her twenties sat in the ripped front seat, purity ring on her left hand, an engagement ring on her right. Blood dripped down her front from the slit in her throat, which did not hide the bruising on her neck from a tight rope. The back of her head was still slowly bleeding from where her head was smashed in.

Pieces of his broken cellphone scattered across the road; they found the door on the opposite side of the street, crushed like it was thrown into a compactor.

They were baffled; the street was closed off with yellow tape. Dogs jumped from police cars as soon as they arrived on scene. Not only was this another serial murder investigation, a teenage boy was missing.

It was just under six hours.

Scott and Allison were herded out of the way to the ambulance that pulled up after the last of the patrol cars sped noisily down the street. The two of them were provided with shock blankets, which they huddled under gratefully, concealing their clasped hands.

The paramedics ruled neither of them wounded; she left the two to glance around at the officers frantically running around the scene. They had not spoken in a good few hours; wet streaks of tears dirtied their cheeks and their eyes were clouded over. Scott was the first to move when the Sheriff approached them slowly with a guarded expression.

When Allison was on the phone with the police, he was not sure who she had spoken with. It did not sound like Mr Stilinski, though. But Scott has no doubts that the Sheriff was the first to know on the force that his son was missing. He was probably the first to find the jeep, too.

Allison leaned in close, wrapping her fingers around his bicep and squeezing gently as the older man stopped in front of them. He would not ever spare a glance at his house; Scott could not blame him.

It was quiet between the three of them, the air tense with questions, truths and lies that could not possibly be explained in the back of an ambulance at his best friend’s house. Finally, the Sheriff cleared his throat, making the teenagers jump from their thoughts and look at him with wide eyes. The look he gave them looked like he regretted doing that.

“You kids okay?” He tired, a hand hovering at his side, like he wanted to offer a comforting hand; Scott just gave him a thin smile before looking towards the house. He saw someone try to adjust the dining room table and drag it back indoors. It did not move.

“Are you?” Scott looked back up at the man; he looked just about as devastated as the two of them had been hours before. He had a better hold on his composure then two teenagers. Stilinski just gave a half assed laugh, it was bitter and void of any joy it should have had.

“I will be once he’s back safe.” He swallowed, “I’m just going to ask you two a few basic questions, usual run down.” The two of them nodded once before he continued. “What happened last night?”

Allison spoke up first, “I had gone over Scott’s house for a movie night. Stiles called around eleven and asked if we wanted to come over…” She trailed and turned to Scott who took his queue to look at the Sheriff from locking eyes with hers.

“My mom drove us. She doesn’t like me riding my bike at night. We got here and it was dark downstairs; mom left because we all saw the light on in Stiles’ room.” It did not feel right this time; lying about a situation to the Sheriff. Normally Stiles would be coming up with some story that sounded plausible enough to look like they were at another crime scene purely on accident. Scott was even starting to think that the Sheriff thought his son was the killer on several occasions just by the way he looked at him.

Right now it felt wrong, looking the man in the eye and not telling him that a pack of werewolves were trying their hardest to find his son. A pack of werewolves had actually been relying on his son for a long time, and they all felt it; the panic that suddenly a valued friend was gone and they could do nothing to help.

Allison’s voice shook him from his thoughts, “I tripped, going up the stairs.” Her voice was uneasy; Scott felt her heartbeat almost shudder. He knew she hated it, too. “A picture frame was on the floor; we turned on a light and…” She bit her lip and glanced at the house, crime scene investigators walking in and out of the front door, rubber gloves and plastic boots on as to not contaminate evidence.

The Sheriff nodded a few times; he looked like he was trying to hold back a million more questions before he said. “You’re probably going to get questioned again,” They looked up at him, eyes wide in confusion and concern, he continued, “Though it is a missing person’s case, it’s also Stiles. They might take me off this one.” Scott could almost hear, _but they better damned well keep me informed_. Scott nodded, understanding a little bit.

“We might need you back at the station anyway for something else, though.” The Sheriff continued and they stiffened. A police cruiser pulled up in front of the Stilinski house hold. Two normal officers stepped out and immediately Scott was hit in the face with the smell of blood and human insides. The Sheriff turned away in time for him to make a horrified and disgusted face. Allison’s hand was on his shoulder, eyes wide and concerned.

“Scott?”

“They found the girl.” He spoke, hushed so no one would over hear them. The girl paled, jaw visibly clenching.

“So they found the jeep?” Scott gave her a tight look; she swallowed the lump in her throat. The girl bit her top lip, and looked over towards where the Sheriff stood with other officers. “Can you hear what they’re saying?” She whispered, huddling close to him. It took his some concentration this time, but he managed to push the background noise away and hone in on the Sheriff.

“.. _I understand._ ” He said; shoulders tense. The man was facing away from the teens in the ambulance and his hands squeezed his sides just above his hips.

“ _We hoped you would. But we still need you for the serial cases. Do you need a week off?”_ The officer on his right shifted, like he was going to put a hand on the Sheriff before he relaxed slightly, thinking against it.

It was tense between them for a good moment or so. Scott heard the Sheriff’s heart rate pick up as he shifted his weight between his feet, looking down at the ground. He had to look away quickly as he picked up his gaze and turned to face the two teens.

“ _No._ ” He said after a moment. The two beside him looked shocked.

“ _Are... Are you sure?”_ The one on the left questioned and looked to his right. The Sheriff looked to them both.

“ _Yeah. Yeah someone needs to be in charge around here._ ” Scott could almost hear his forced grin before he turned to look back at Allison and Scott. “ _You take care of here for now. Make sure they get home safely, alright?”_ He jabbed his thumb at them before he turned his back on them to head towards his cruiser. As he pulled the door open and slid in, Scott could feel the man’s eyes on them as he pulled away.

“Scott what happened?” Allison worried next to him as the officers approached. It took Scott until they sat side by side in the police cruiser before he spoke, turning towards Allison.

“They took the Sheriff off the case.” A look crossed her face; they both expected that to happen, but she still found herself surprised by the news.

“You still look troubled...” Scott nodded, ‘brows furrowing together as he swallowed.

“Yeah, because I think he knows something we don’t yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! Thanks for reading Chapter 1! I'm so excited to continue writing this; I haven't been this pumped for a fic in a while!  
> If you have any questions, you can comment here or you can reach me at my tumblr, which is the same url as my username here!  
> Beta'd by lusciousgrapes (on tumblr)


	3. He'll be Helping Me Find Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The officer dropped both Alison and Scott at the McCall’s residence. The ride there was silent aside from the car’s engine and the occasional call from the static on the police radio in the front.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is AU after S3E3 "Fireflies"  
> Sorry to all those who were waiting for this chapter! This chapter is unbeta'd because I put it up in such a rush - maybe the beta'd version will be up in a couple of days. Enjoy!

The officer dropped both Alison and Scott at the McCall’s residence. The ride there was silent aside from the car’s engine and the occasional call from the static on the police radio in the front. The two of them sat apart, and it was suddenly like Allison had closed herself off again to him. Scott winced, occasionally peering over at the girl. Her hair had fallen in front of her face; she was turned towards the window so he could not see her or any expression she wore. The only indication of her mood was the rate of her heart beating in her chest. It was slow, almost calm; maybe it was just the training that her parents put her through to be a leader of their family that allowed her to keep herself so calm.

Scott was a little taken aback when suddenly her pulse started racing and she shifted uncomfortably. Her hands clenched around the cuffs of her sleeves and she glanced over at him with darkened eyes like she already had not slept in days. He clenched his jaw and swallowed, slowly looking out his own window as they pulled into the driveway to his house.

With a quick and mumbled thank you, they both bounded up the steps and walked into the house. They were still quiet until the officer left. Scott turned on some lights in the kitchen even though sunlight was peeking through the shades. The teenagers sat in silence for a long time.

The whole ride back to his house, in fact for the last several passing hours, Scott tried to keep his emotions in check. He needed to keep a level head, because that’s what he pictured his best friend doing. Stiles always seemed to be the more emotionally in control one out of their duo, especially since Scott was bitten all those months ago. Stiles had been the one to pull him through those times, though Allison was Scott’s anchor. And Stiles even helped him discover that, too. Scott did not think he thanked his best friend for all that, either.

When they find him, he will.

Sucking in a breath through his nose, he turned to Allison and opened his mouth to say something, but she cut in.

“I’m not leaving.” Scott frowned at her as she cast a sharp look in his direction. “I know what you’re going to say, I know you’re concerned but I’m not leaving.”

“Allison, let us handle it for now.” He tried, ‘brows creasing a bit with concern. She looked like she had not had a good night’s sleep in a while, and he figured that she could use some. “You can call your dad – I don’t think he’d appreciate me calling him… Or that you were over here at all.”

“I wasn’t even supposed to be out there last night –“ She started saying, choking on her words.” I wasn’t even supposed to be involved in this anymore. I promised Dad and…” She pressed her lips in a tight line and took her eyes off him.  “I was going to talk to you tonight.” She started softly, just barely above a whisper. “Talk to you properly about what happened to my mom.”

Scott found himself frozen, staring at her but she wouldn’t look at him as she continued. “I was going to tell you that you had _no right_ to keep that information from me.” He winced as her voice raised a sharp octave. “How you thought you were doing the _right thing_ in helping Gerard manipulate me by not telling me that. She was my mother and I needed to know that Scott.”

Scott could tell that she was trying to keep from screaming at him the way her shoulders were shaking. She had rounded on him at some point, eyes wide and filled with moisture in tears threatening to fall. But she didn’t continue any farther.

“I just,” He started after another moment of silence and swallowing the lump in his throat. “It was wrong of me, I know… I thought I was protecting you.  You didn’t need to know that about your mom…” Allison shook her head, shifting her weight a bit as she crossed her arms.

“I did, Scott. It was my right to know!” She choked, covering her mouth to stifle down sobs. Scott did not remember when he stood, but suddenly he was right in front of the girl, arms hesitantly reaching out for her.

“Allison…” he tried, swallowing the lump in his throat. He did not need this right now; neither of them did. Of course they needed to talk about it, he wanted to; now that Derek had forced him to. He needed to explain himself and they both needed to be calm about it. But they did not need to add to an already stressful situation.

Allison shrugged away from his advance initially, managing out after a few moments “But… We’ll talk about this later.” She took a deep breath and wiped at her face with a paper towel that Scott handed to her and folded it between her hands. Looking up, Allison locked her gaze with him. For a moment, the Allison he knew was very much gone, a steeled expression, tight jaw, eyes set forward. If Scott had not known better, he would have said Victoria Argent stood in his kitchen.

He shuddered.

When Allison came back to him, a layer of moisture made her eyes glisten in a strange way. Her lips were pressed in a tight line and her shoulders tensed up. They just stared at one another, and it looked like Allison was searching for something the way her ‘brow creased and she looked concerned. He broke eye contact to look at the clock.

 _It had been less than twelve hours._ Less than nine, even.

Scott snapped out of it when he heard Allison move next to him. She was gathering anything that was hers.

“Tomorrow; call Derek when I leave – no, later today if he can.” Her voice was soft and hoarse from crying and screaming before. Her jacket was wrapped over her arm and she held it tight to her chest. “Lydia’s isn’t too far away. I’ll just go there since I told my dad I’d be there the night.”

Before she could step out the door, Scott was by her side. “Let me give you a lift then.” Allison looked back up at him, bewildered and confused. He assumed she was leaving in such a rush because she just yelled in his face and gave him no room to talk. Grabbing two helmets from beside the door, he handing one to Allison, who took it with a slight hesitation. The girl opened her mouth to protest as Scott moved passed her and out the door.

 “I need a distraction.” He answered simply and nodded towards his motorcycle, shadowed by the trees. Without another word, the two of them shuffled towards the bike.

 

 

Scott watched Allison walk up the driveway; she did not look back at him. However, she did pause near Lydia’s doorway. He thought she would turn back to look at him; she almost did, but Lydia wrenched open the door first with wide, red, puffy eyes. Her cheeks were a dark rosy color, and dried makeup streaked down her face and suddenly he realized, _Lydia and Stiles had been closer than he thought_.

The past four months without Allison was spent at home reading or studying and at the clinic. Any time between, he tried to hang out with Stiles; but it never seemed to work out. Only about half the time they managed to get together. They talked about a million things; he did hear that Lydia started to hang out with the hyperactive teen, but Scott had no idea just how close they got.

The strawberry-blond ushered her friend into her house, sparring Scott a sympathetic glance before the door shut with a soft click. As he drove off, he heard two voices crying.

 

 

Being home was not much better. His mother’s car was now in the driveway and she was waiting for him when he opened the door, throwing her arms around his shoulders and tucking him tight against her. He trembled against her as she pulled him down to the couch with her. Soothing words were lost under the heavy sobs echoing through the house.

Scott did not know how long they had sat there, his mother letting him sob into her shoulder like she had when he was a kid. At that time, his father had been acting out towards himself and his mother. Scott called it mean – Melissa later referred to it as abusive. Just once, though; he did not understand at the time, he did after the man moved out, when he did not have to cry on his mother’s shoulder anymore, tucked away in the backroom in hiding.

They were about half way up the stairs when the young werewolf realized they had moved. Melissa had a gentle arm around his waist as she led him up the steps to his room.  When Allison was there in the house with him, when they left Stiles’ house; he was so focused. He was focused on everything but the fact his best friend was gone and that his last words to him were _Bye, Scott_. Those words echoed through his mind, thoroughly numbing him of anything else. It was so _final_ and it scared him.

Tears were still freely streaming down his face, but his choked sobs ceased minutes ago. He felt like he could not breathe; like his ribs were impaling his lungs slowly, digging into them and preventing any movement anymore. They did not touch his heart, though, which enabled that to pump so fast he thought it stopped at some points until her could hear the blood moving in his body.

He thought he heard his name faintly in the distance, underneath the rush of his own blood. What was wrong? Everything was wrong – was he supposed to act normally now? His best friend was _gone_ and he was just going to act like he was fine; like Stiles was still in his house and on his phone, chatting away on how awesome Star Wars was to him and begging Scott to watch at least _one_ movie with him.

A familiar object was practically thrown at his face and shoved between his lips. As he tried to take a deep breath a heavy mist was sprayed into his mouth. His inhaler? The inhaler was dropped from his mouth and onto his lap as he found it easier to breathe, slowly, Scott became aware of the noises he was making. Growls and animalistic whines echoed through his room as he wiped at his face; his eyes were dry, but he thought less that it was he was done crying and more that his tear ducts were dried up for now.

When he glanced up, his vision was blurry but he could see his mom sitting in front of him with a sadden smile on her face. Her hands were wrapped around his, uncurling them slowly and gently were they were in danger of crushing his torso with how tightly he hugged himself.  His claws were twitching underneath her fingers, but she kept her gentle grip on him.

“Scott.” Melissa started softly. Though she only had gotten involved in their new supernatural life a few months ago when Gerard Argent used the kanima to threaten his mother’s life, she had been taking it in stride. “Scott, we’ll find him.”

Surprised at her sudden confidence, her son turned away, looking much less like a werewolf and more human, the hair on his face disappeared and his eyes turned their normal brown color. “Mom..” Before he could even finish, she cut him off.

“No, we will. You and Derek, Allison, Isaac… You’ll find a way. If I know you at all, Scott, you’ll find a way to get him back as safe as you can.” Scott did not believe her, how could he? He just barely saved her with the plan he and Deaton had come up with. They were too late to save Erica and saving Boyd and Cora was more of a fluke than anything on his part. If he and Stiles had their roles reversed, no matter if he was a werewolf or not, his best friend would come to his aid sooner than the opposite.

But that was just it; their roles were not reversed and Stiles was still gone. Unless they figured out how to turn back time; that would not change. Stiles must have known that…

Scott looked up at his mother, eyes wide as the thought occurred to him. “I… I will bring him back.” Through the concern in her eyes, Melissa smiled. “Because he’ll be helping me find him.” His mother gave him a look, eye brows raised a bit. She did not question him, though. Instead, she bit her lip and patted his clawless hand.

“I’ll allow you not going to school today.” It was Scott’s turn to give a strange look to his mother. “I’m not that bad of a mother that when your best friend goes missing I’ll force you to go to school.” Scott’s face brightened at her as she continued. “Do what you have to, Scott. But be safe.”

 

 

Scott got around to calling Derek around noon and they relayed some information back and forth.

_“Stiles’ dad’s off his missing person’s case, but he’s still on the murder case.”_

“ _Great. We could have had an inside one both cases..”_

_“Derek, what do you mean?”_

_“The Feds arrived and split into two teams.”_

_“What?”_

_“Yeah, one team for Stiles’ case and another for the murders; he’s a minor so they want to find him.”_

They agreed that everyone could meet at Derek’s loft later in the afternoon. Scott was practically buzzing again, the numbness faded finally and he could at least feel himself again; if only it was a little bit. He spared his mother a small smile as he bolted out the door; judging by the look on her face, an officer had been on the other line, asking for her alibi and what she was doing.

When he got to the alpha’s new residence, he noticed several cars already there. None of them were Allison’s though; Scott quickly pulled out his phone to inform her of the meeting. As an afterthought, he gave the girl the address so she could find it.

Before he could even knock on the door, Derek pulled it open and dragged him inside without a word.

Cora and Boyd were hovering near the skeletal staircase, leaning towards one another with Boyd’s backpack lying in a heap at their feet. Isaac immediately made a beeline for Scott when he walked in, barely making eye contact with his alpha as he went. Unsurprisingly, Peter Hale was not there.

“Everything’s been really quiet.” Isaac started, looking around at the rest of his pack. Scott looked up at the beta, a ‘brow rising. His eyes looked glossy and bags were starting to form under his eyes. Wth silent glances at one another, the wolves all moved closer together around the table Derek set up in the middle of the room.

The air at Derek’s place was different from his own or around Lydia’s. Both had not been so full of tension like this, so full of anger instead of a suffocating devastation. Though Scott could not tell what was worse.

The alpha looked around at his pack, his jaw set into a tight line before his eyes landed on Scott. Their gazes lingered with one another before Derek pulled away quickly. “We went back to where we found Stiles’ jeep.” He started, inclining his head to Cora. Scott felt the younger Hale spare him a glance out of his peripheral vision.  When Derek did not continue, Scott frowned.

“I figured you did when you told me the Feds were here.”

“They got here pretty fast, too.” Boyd started, trailing off as if in thought. “If they were called this morning, it means they were at the scene in about an hour.”

“Both places, actually.” Scott interjected, “They didn’t have any unique identification on them, but two people came on the scene that smelt like the woman in the car.” A silent shudder ran through the room. “They showed up before we left Stiles’ house.”

It was silent for a moment, and then Isaac spoke up. “Do we know who she was?” As if on cue, the door slammed open. Derek shot up immediately with a deep throated growl, Cora’s eyes flashed quickly and she stepped closer to Boyd as Isaac visibly shifted in discomfort. Scott turned around to see Peter Hale, arm outstretched to hold the door open for someone else. _Or_ , as they stepped forward, Scott noticed, _a couple of people_.

As Allison passed the elder Hale, she didn’t even spare him a glance. Her eyes locked on nothing as she marched right in, but gradually slowed her pace as she entered Derek’s home; her heart rate sped up a little bit. It became obvious that she was uncomfortable in the loft.

When Lydia came in, she kept a close eye on the Hale. Her expression twisted in a mix of terror and anger – like she did not know if she would hit him or run to Allison. He returned her gaze with a small smirk; Scott heard himself growl as the strawberry-blonde moved closer to the group of werewolves, but hovered closer to Allison.

“Well, we do now.” The oldest Hale slid the door shut with the bottom of his shoe and stepped away from the entrance.

“What are you doing here?” Peter gave his nephew a hurt look and tsk’d.

“Thought you could use and extra set of eyes. And I was passing the area anyway only to notice that you were having a party without me?” He had stepped around the circle and closed in on the corner of the table, a place where he would be able to see everyone. “Now, as I was saying, we know the deceased identity.” With a nod towards the girls, all eyes shot towards them.

Lydia looked less like she would turn into a puddle now that Peter was across the room from her, she looked much calmer, but the look in her eyes mirrored Allison’s. The whites of their eyes were still pink from crying, glossy and filled with moisture. Both looked just as uncomfortable to be there as Derek was as uncomfortable to hand them in his home.  But he was not saying anything against them being in the room.

Allison stepped passed the other girl, hand brushing up against Lydia’s arm, silently urging her to join the circle. Isaac and Scott parted a little bit to let them near. “Her name was Angela, Angela Taylor. She was engaged, and if the ring was anything to go by – a virgin.” She swallowed. “Stiles’ theory was spot on if a fourth in the pattern is anything to go by.”

“She was vacationing in the area with her fiancé when she disappeared about two days ago.” Lydia continued for the other girl when she gave her an opening. “And it seems like it was the same as the only other disappearance-murder we know. The girl in the woods?” When she received clueless looks from the wolves, she rolled her eyes. “He didn’t tell you anything, did he? The girl disappeared when you attacked one another in the woods and found he girlfriend. He girlfriend said she was freaking out that there were bugs all over her before she ran off. But there weren’t any bugs.”

Cora looked up, “Hallucinations? Lures them alone before taking them?”

“The Jeep was fine.” Everyone’s eyes were suddenly on Derek.

“I’m sorry?” Peter snorted. “I’m quite lost, what is even going on?”

Scott shot the former alpha a glare. “Stiles is missing.” The Hale merely tilted his head with a thoughtful frown.

“And I was just wondering why we had a head missing from the Scooby Gang…” Allison, Lydia, and Scott squared their shoulders, eyes narrowing at Peter before Derek cut in.

“Alright enough.” The alpha growled, eye flashing red for a second before glancing to the two human girls before turning his head towards Peter. “Did you just drag them here to irritate me or so they could tell us who that girl was?”  

“They were climbing the stairs when I got here.” His hands were held up in front of him in mild defense as he shrugged a shoulder. “Why don’t you ask Mister McCall?”

And Derek did. “You told them to come here.”

“Yes, he told the daughter of hunters and the girl who was manipulated by your uncle to resurrect him to come here.” Allison stepped forward in front of Lydia with arms crossed as she stared the alpha down.

Scott be lying if he ever said Derek did not look surprised with her stance, confident in herself as she stood between Scott and Lydia against the alpha. “Let’s not make you the victim here. We know you don’t appreciate us, and we don’t appreciate you – but Stiles is our friend more than he’s your ally, Derek Hale.” She spoke with such strength that came with being a natural born leader. Her eyes betrayed her tone just slightly – still glittering with the moisture of fresh tears threatening to fall.

Lydia shifted closer to Allison as the girl continued at Derek, “When Scott said _everyone,_ Derek; he didn’t mean just you werewolves.”

Scott made a face, “Plus, it was Allison’s idea. I just pitched it to you.” He gestured forward as Derek shot him a look. Peter laughed from the corner.

“Ha, alright kids, let’s settle down. Isn’t this meeting meant to do something?” A strange smile flickered across his face as he sent a glance towards the human girls beside Scott.

Allison took a deep breath and sent one last glare at Derek before ushering Lydia forward. “Yeah, actually.” She started and placed a hand on Lydia’s shoulder. “I think Lydia has something to say.”

All eyes were on Lydia. Her eyes were wide for a moment before she composed herself with a flick of her hand to brush some hair from her face. “I saw him.” Cora suddenly looked appalled, almost scared.

“You saw him? In what, a dream?” Something in her tone was very accusing and it made Scott bristle up, stepping closer to the girls. But Lydia just gave her a look. Her arms crossed across her mid-section and her hips swayed out a bit. She was uncomfortable; Scott still felt that radiating off of her and Allison, but more comfortable now than a few minutes ago before Allison stood up for what Derek had said just a couple of days prior.

“Yes. In a dream.” Lydia stated, giving the youngest Hale a wide eyed look with a raised eyebrow. Cora looked at Derek, and then to the rest of their pack before Lydia continued. “Look, I don’t know how I saw him. One minute I was reading and the next I was next to Stiles in his house. When I woke up, I was screaming.”

There was a tense pause in the room before Isaac decided to speak up, “You were in his house?” She nodded and shifted visibly.

“Yeah, but he didn’t see me at all. I was invisible to him; but I could tell he was talking to you.” She gestured at Scott with a slight tilt of her head. “He looked like he was closing out a program with his webcam but I couldn’t see what.” Hesitantly, she looked up towards Scott, locking eyes with him. She looked frightened. “He struggled; I couldn’t see everything, it was dark but I heard him, screaming and even I was attacked at some point. They were everywhere I couldn’t tell what was happening.” Scott heard her heart rate pick up.

“’They’?” Derek repeated into the silence, looking right at Lydia. The expression he held was concerned and confused, not angry like he had been several minutes before. She nodded,

“There were several of them there; they looked like they were wearing cover ups or hoods, something to obscure how we saw them.”

Silence followed her, it seemed like no one had the courage to breath at all as they processed the new information.

“Great.” Peter Hale broke the silence with an exasperated sigh. “So we’re dealing with a cult?”

Gasping, Lydia turned back to Scott and Allison, “Stiles probably knew that.” Both gave her a confused look. “His computer – he recorded something!” Isaac cut in.

“Scott, didn’t you say we needed his computer anyway?”

“One problem.” Cora snorted, head tilted a bit. “Isn’t his computer kind of broken in half? And more than likely password protected?”

“We have someone in mind for that. Getting it fixed is another thing.” Allison crossed her arms.

“How about getting it out of the house without being noticed?” Boyd pointed out with a raised eyebrow.  Scott couldn’t help but smile though.

“I can handle that part, if the Feds haven’t already taken it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry about the wait everyone! I couldn't get passed the Scallison part, you know? :\ Also what's happening with Lydia?? winkwonk. Yeah I shouldn't try and be funny. Thanks for reading!


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